Is My The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling a First Edition?

The points of issue

• London: printed for A. Millar, 1749; six volumes, duodecimo
• The entire first printing of 2,000 copies was taken up by the London trade before the announced publication date of 10 February 1749; publication followed on 28 February 1749, and three further editions appeared by September 1749 — roughly 10,000 copies in the year
• Because the 1749 editions are near-identical in appearance, collation is the ONLY test
• First edition, first issue points:
• the ERRATA LEAF present after the contents in Volume I, with the errata UNCORRECTED throughout the text (the second issue corrected them and made minor textual alterations)
• Volume I, p

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
6. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The census claim is CORRECT: A. Millar, London, 1749, six volumes, is the true first — English author, London publisher, no earlier or foreign-language edition to displace it, so no UK/US or original-language precedence question arises. The first American edition is much later and is not the collected form. The real trap here is not geography but MADE-UP SETS: because four editions were printed in 1749 with matching title-pages, "first edition" sets are routinely assembled from mixed 1749 sheets, and a set is only a first edition if every volume passes its own collation. A set lacking the Volume I errata leaf, or with the errata corrected in the text, is not a first issue no matter what the title-pages say.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition exists for a 1749 imprint. Documented reprint tells: (1) any second/third/fourth 1749 Millar edition — identified by the corrected errata, the "who" catchword at Vol. I p. 21, and B5 signed in Vol. VI — these are the single most common thing mistaken for the first; (2) 19th-century multi-volume sets and the standard Victorian illustrated editions (Cruikshank and successors); (3) 20th-century subscription and press reprints — Limited Editions Club / Heritage Press, Folio Society, Franklin Library — identifiable by modern paper, publisher's decorated cloth or leatherette, a colophon leaf, and a 20th-century copyright notice. A genuine 1749 Millar set has no copyright page; it will be in contemporary calf or a later fine binding.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling a first edition?

A first edition of The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding (A. Millar, London) is identified by: London: printed for A.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The census claim is CORRECT: A.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No book-club edition exists for a 1749 imprint. Documented reprint tells: (1) any second/third/fourth 1749 Millar edition — identified by the corrected errata, the "who" catchword at Vol. I p. 21, and B5 signed in Vol. VI — these are the single most common thing mistaken for the first; (2) 19th-century multi-volume sets and the standard Victorian illustrated editions (Cruikshank and successors); (3) 20th-century subscription and press reprints — Limited Editions Club / Heritage Press, Folio Soci

I have a first edition of The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.